After years of negotiation, the San Francisco Port Commission finally approved water taxi service in the bay on Tuesday, meaning you'll be able to hail a ride to Sausalito, Tiburon, Napa or McCovey Cove whenever you please.

It's a new year and a new dawn for the sport of sailing in San Francisco.

The city was chosen Friday to host the next America's Cup in 2013, heralding a potential renaissance in competitive sailing and a boon of more than $1 billion to the local economy.

This "marks the beginning of an extraordinary new chapter for our city and for the sport of sailing," said Lt. Gov.- elect Gavin Newsom, who sought to secure the Cup as a capstone to his seven years as mayor. "We don't think there is any better showcase in the world for sailing than San Francisco Bay."

As it readies its pitch to host the next America’s Cup, San Francisco has already scored an unusual coup: Lining up early support from a wide array of government agencies. San Francisco’s economic development arm, which is overseeing the city’s bid, has already received preliminary support from the city’s Board of Supervisors, Port Commission, Recreation and Park Commission and the Convention and Visitors Bureau, as well as the Bay Conservation and Development Commission and Golden Gate National Recreational Area.

Located below the Bay Bridge, Pier 24 offers 28,000 square feet of display space. To put that in perspective, it is four times the size of the photography galleries on the third floor of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, one of the largest dedicated photography spaces at any museum in the United States.

SF Sentinel: "SFWP's Spectacular Waterfront Restoration Earns Praise as one of Nation's Best Land Use Projects" - March 31, 2010

The revitalized Piers 1½, 3 and 5 on San Francisco’s historic waterfront have been named as finalists for a national excellence award presented annually by the Urban Land Institute, a 74-year old nonprofit that works on land-use issues. San Francisco Waterfront Partners’ Piers project was among the 17 finalists nationwide for ULI’s 2010 Award for Excellence, which were selected from a list of 170 entries from all over the Americas.

Two San Francisco construction projects are among 17 finalists for a national excellence award presented annually by the Urban Land Institute, a 74-year old nonprofit that works on land-use issues. San Francisco Waterfront Partners' $50 million redevelopment of Piers 1½, 3 and 5 was one of the finalists, which were selected from a list of 170 entries nationwide.

San Francisco Beautiful announces the 2009 Beautification Award winners. This year's theme, "Saving Our City: Beauty has a Place," focuses on new beautification projects that have happened due to creative thinking and collective efforts - even in the face of both financial and natural resource shortages.

There's been a battle for more than six years over whether to build an eight-story condominium project along San Francisco's waterfront at the foot of Washington Street, a project that could shape redevelopment along a popular stretch of the Embarcadero. Now the city is wading into a fight that nearby neighborhood groups have waged against two developers, unveiling a proposal that calls for the condominium buildings to have a terraced roofline and a design to allow better views of Coit Tower.

Background: Snellgrove founded San Francisco-based PWP in 1999. Before that, he was president of U.S. Lend Lease Inc., where he started one of the first global real estate investment funds. Prior to that, he spent 20 years with the Portman Cos., where he grew from architectural draftsman to director of development for the Embarcadero Center in San Francisco and other large mixed-use developments in Singapore and Asia.

San Francisco Waterfront Partners, the team behind the recently revitalized Piers 1 ½, 3 and 5, have announced plans for 8 Washington, proposing a mix of housing and public amenities that would revitalize a corner of waterfront property that currently consists of a small, unsightly parking lot and a private club.